Països Catalans
As Països Catalans [ pəizus kətəlans ] on Ostkatalanisch, [ paizos katalans ] on Westkatalanisch (German "Catalan Countries") distributed over several southern European countries are designated areas where the Catalan language is spoken. In addition to the language, they have in common the historical affiliation to the medieval crown of Aragon . The term and the belonging together of the different territories expressed by it are controversial.
scope
The following areas are counted among the Països Catalans:
- in Spain the autonomous communities of Catalonia , Valencia and the Balearic Islands , a narrow strip in the east of the autonomous community of Aragon , the so-called Franja de Ponent (Catalan for "western strip") and a small area in Murcia called El Carxe
- in France the Pyrénées-Orientales department , from a Catalan point of view Catalunya del Nord ("Northern Catalonia")
- in Italy the Sardinian city of Alghero (Catalan L'Alguer )
- the Principality of Andorra
Political controversy
In scientific and sometimes also in everyday language usage, the term is only used to express the cultural togetherness of the various "countries" based on the common language and history. However, some Catalan nationalists seek to unite all Països Catalans in their own independent state. For this reason and because of a feared claim to leadership by Catalonia, the term meets with rejection, especially in the Valencia region and the Balearic Islands.
The affiliation of non-Catalan-speaking areas is also controversial. This relates primarily to the Aran Valley in the far northwest of Catalonia with its own Aranese language , a variant of Gascon and of Occitan , which also okzitanischsprachige Fenouillèdes in French department of Pyrenees-Orientales and the Spanish-speaking western region of Valencia. Due to their historical affiliation to the Principality of Catalonia or the Kingdom of Valencia within the Aragon Crown , they are often counted among the Països Catalans. This mixture of linguistic and historical demarcation is interpreted by opponents as expansionist .
In the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, the name is also often used officially, for example in street names ( Carrer dels Països Catalans ). The weather forecast of the Catalan Public Radio and most of the Catalan daily newspapers covers the whole of the Països Catalans.
literature
- Montserrat Guibernau: Catalan Nationalism. Francoism, transition and democracy. Routledge, London / New York 2004, ISBN 0-415-32240-5 .
- Joaquim Torres: Problems of linguistic normalization in the Països Catalans: from the Congress of Catalan Culture to the present day. In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language . No. 47, 1984, pp. 59-62.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Montserrat Guibernau: Catalan Nationalism. Francoism, transition and democracy. Routledge, London / New York 2004, ISBN 0-415-32240-5 , pp. 30-31.